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born 1940

Wilma Rudolph sprinted to 3 gold medals in the 1960 Rome Olympics, becoming the fastest woman in the world and an inspiration to athletes everywhere ~ and a role model to African American females.

It was a remarkable feat for a girl who'd grown up poor and crippled in the segregated South. But Wilma, who'd thrown off a leg brace at age 12 and won despite a twisted ankle at the Games, always vowed her life would be different. Returning home a legend, she even nixed a party in her honor until the Tennessee governor allowed the parade and banquet to be integrated events ~ a first for her hometown.

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her quotes

all quotes by Wilma Rudolph (10)

"I knew the best way to cheer him up was to win myself ~ and win good."

Signature Game | september 1960

"The triumph can't be had without the struggle."

Wilma Rudolph | 1961

"My doctor told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother."

Wilma Rudolph | unknown

"I don't know why I run so fast. I just run."

Rudolph ran and the world went wild | unknown

"I loved the feeling of freedom in running, the fresh air, the feeling that the only person I'm competing with is me."

Wilma | 1977

"Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose."

Wilma | 1977

"What do you do after you are world famous and nineteen or twenty and you have sat with prime ministers, kings and queens, the Pope? Do you go back home and take a job? What do you do to keep your sanity? You come back to the real world."

Ebony Magazine {quoted in Wilma Rudolph by Jennifer Joline Anderson} | 1984

"I was challenging every boy in the neighborhood at running, jumping, everything. I could beat most of them. I wanted to show that there was something special inside of me."

Wilma Rudolph: It's Important To Be Yourself And Have Self-Confidence | january 1989

"Sometimes it takes years to really grasp what has happened to your life."

I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women who Changed America | march 1989

"I believe in me more than anything in this world."

Great Olympic Moments | january 1992

quoteurs we recommend...

Gabby Douglas
gold-medal gymnast
Billie Jean King
tennis champion
Harriet Tubman
conductor on the Underground Railroad

for further reading about Wilma Rudolph:

  • Quotabelle profile
  • Wilma Rudolph

curated with care by Kathleen Murray {august 2014}

Wilma Rudolph statue

The Wilma Rudolph statue on the Riverwalk in Clarksville, Tennessee, the city where she grew up. Born premature, Wilma suffered from many illnesses as a child ~ including polio. The disease left her weak and with a brace on her left leg. With the support of her parents and her older siblings, who took turns massaging her leg + helping with physical therapy ~ and made sure she didn't sneak off her braces. By 9, the braces were gone for good, and at 12, Wilma joined her school's basketball team. Once she started running, she never stopped.

Nancy Sims | CC-BY 2.0

Rome Olympics | 1960 Opening Day

The track and field arena where Wilma would win 3 gold medals on the opening day of the Rome Olympics ~ August 25, 1960. It was her second Olympics {she'd won a bronze in 1956}. Wilma was the first American woman ~ of any color ~ to win 3 gold medals, and her 200-meter time {23.2 seconds} set a world record. After the Olympics, she continued her track-and-field work as a coach and a supporter of community-based amateur athletics through the Wilma Rudolph Foundation.

Alex Dawson

CC BY-SA

100 meters | 1960 Summer Olympics

Wilma wins the 100 meters at the 1960 Summer Olympics. She'd go on to win 2 more gold medals ~ her powerful performance as anchor of the women's 1 x 100 relay team clinched their victory.

Millrose Games

In February 1961, Wilma won the 100 and the 200 in the Millrose Games in New York City ~ the first woman to be invited since the 1930s. But she almost didn't make it. When she and her coach Ed Temple tried to hail a taxi, many drivers wouldn't pick them up because they were black. Once they got there, a guard at Madison Square Garden almost wouldn't let her in.

Sam Felder | CC-BY-SA 2.0